Cisco to Award $50,000 HBCU Startup Prize to #TechForGood Entrepreneur ($1M in total prizes!)
|
Posted By: Shawna Darling on December 09, 2020 Applications are currently open for the 5th annual Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge and along with it, our largest prize pool and expanded eligibility criteria. Part of Cisco’s commitment to positively impact one billion people by 2025, the Challenge is an online competition that awards cash prizes to early-stage tech entrepreneurs solving the world’s toughest problems. We launched the Challenge in 2016 to jumpstart innovative ideas that benefit society, catalyze economic growth, and create jobs. Since then, we’ve had the privilege to see tremendous innovation from every corner of the globe and the honor to award $1.25 million USD to 43 start-ups in 15 countries. Knowing that the need to support this type of entrepreneurship has never been greater, we have increased the total prize pool to $1 million, with the grand prize winner receiving $250,000. As part of this year's Challenge Cisco is offering a special $50,000 HBCU Startup Prize. The HBCU Startup Prize will be awarded to a team with at least one founder who is a student or graduate of an HBCU, with an innovative technology solution that addresses a social or environmental problem. Cisco’s Social Justice Beliefs and Actions framework commits to the strategic recovery, sustainability and legacy of historically Black colleges and universities, post-COVID and beyond. We believe in the importance of investing in African American/Black-owned startups. If you have an innovative solution that you think could win the Cisco Global Problem Solver 2021 HBCU Startup Prize, please visit our website to register and learn more about the application process. The application deadline is January 29, 2021, at 5 p.m. PT. Learn more and apply: https://cisco.innovationchallenge.com/ If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
 |
Shawna Darling
CSR Programs Development Manager, Cisco University of Victoria class of 1993 Member Since December 2020 |
Comments
More From This Author
Latest News
 |
Virginia State University Breaks All-Time Enrollment Record With Largest Class in Its HistoryVirginia State University has enrolled more than 6,350 students for the 2026-27 academic year, the largest in its documented history, along with the biggest first-time freshman class ever at 1,725 stu ...more
Roger Gates • 96 Views • October 21st, 2026 |
 |
FAMU Rattler Great Andre Dawson Receives Florida Governor's Medal of FreedomToday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis presented the Governor’s Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the Governor can bestow on a Floridian, to Baseball Hall of Famer and proud Florida A&M University (FA ...more
Reginald Claremont • 207 Views • October 19th, 2026 |
 |
STARZ Named Presenting Sponsor as HBCU First LOOK Film & TV Festival Returns to Howard University Nov. 5-7For three days this November, Howard University will transform into the epicenter of Black film. The 4th Annual HBCU First LOOK Film & TV Festival (HBCUFLF) returns to the nation's capital Novembe ...more
Roger Gates • 145 Views • October 19th, 2026 |
 |
NCCU Awarded $4.9 Million to Accelerate Its Path to R2 Research StatusDURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has been awarded $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Research and Development Infrastructure Grant Program to expand its ...more
Roger Gates • 215 Views • October 14th, 2026 |
Popular News
 |
Louisiana Upholds Life Sentence to Black Man For Stealing Hedge Trimmers in 1997While this may not be HBCU related news, as an AFrican American male, I had to share this appalling decision by the Louisiana court system to keep a man in jail with a life sentence for such a petty c ...more
Roger Gates • 406,105 Views • August 6th, 2020 |
 |
Blonde Instagram Model Goes Viral for Graduating from HBCU and Pledging Delta Sigma Theta!A blonde woman is going viral this morning, for graduating from A Historically Black College while pledging a Black sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
@Blonde_HBCU
The woman, an IG ...more
Roger Gates • 190,475 Views • November 30th, 2020 |
 |
Apple to Invest over $40 Million Dollars into HBCUs - Time to major in Computer Science!!!On Tuesday Johnny C. Taylor, President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund stopped by “NewsOne Now” to make a major announcement that could literally change the lives of thousands of HBCU st ...more
Roger Gates • 131,188 Views • March 11th, 2015 |
 |
North Carolina HBCU Unity DayShaw University - Elizabeth City State University - Johnson C. Smith University - Fayetteville State University - Livingstone College - North Carolina A&T State University - North Carolina Central Uni ...more
Reginald Claremont • 119,189 Views • August 8th, 2016 |
 |
Black Billionaire Robert F. Smith to Donate $50 Million to Support STEM Students at HBCUsThe Student Freedom Initiative announced today a $50 million personal gift from Robert F. Smith, philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. This gift matches the initial fu ...more
Roger Gates • 86,821 Views • October 22nd, 2020 |
